Solar energy provides you with eco friendly hot water

Sun provides you with hot water
A solar heating system consists of one or several solar panels linked to the hot water tank in the house. The solar panels contain a mixture of water and antifreeze that is heated by the sun’s rays and then pumped to the hot water tank, where the heat is transferred to the water in the tank before being re-circulated back to the solar panel.

A solar heating system is a particularly good investment for use in holiday homes.

Eco friendly alternative
Although solar heating systems cost quite a lot, they are cheap to run and are an eco friendly alternative to heating water with electricity, for example. One solar water heating system can provide all your hot water in the summer months, and some of it during the winter. All in all, a solar heating system can provide 60-70% of your hot water.

How much can you save?
A good-quality solar heating system requires very little maintenance and will last for at least 20 years. The energy savings you make depend on how much hot water you use, and your present form of heating. Ultimately, the financial case for a solar heating system depends on the price of the energy saved.

Higher energy prices in recent years have made solar heating even more attractive. The more expensive energy gets, the better the return from solar heating becomes.

When is solar heating efficient?
The benefits of solar heating are greater in some situations than others.

It is worth considering solar heating if you:

• Have electric heating
  Electric heating is expensive, so you can save a lot of money by installing a solar heating system.
• Replace your boiler
  When you replace your old oil or gas-fired boiler, it may be a good idea to install solar heating to supplement your new boiler. That way the 2 systems can share a common hot water tank.
• Replace the hot water tank
  If you install a solar heating when replacing your old hot water tank, a new tank is automatically supplied with the solar heating system.
• Renovate the roof
  If you need to renovate your roof it is worth considering a solar panel which can be recessed into a section of the new roof.

Sometimes it doesn’t pay to install solar heating
Solar heating is sometimes not worth installing. For example, if you have district heating combined with not being able to place the panels in the right location, or if you only use a small amount of hot water (under 100 litres per day), possibly because there are only 2 persons in the household.

To work out whether installing a solar heating system is a good investment you should compare the annual cost of the energy saved with the total cost of investing in the system. You can find the current prices of solar heating systems from the solar panel manufacturers.

Get the most from your system
Solar panels should be located in places which are never in shadow during the day – normally on the roof of a house. You will get the most benefit from the panels if they face directly south at an angle of 30-60 degrees, with the optimum angle being 45 degrees.

The distance between the solar panels and the hot water tank should be as short as possible to minimize heat loss.

How big should the system be?
You should calculate the size of the system based on the number of people in your household. A good rule of thumb is that you should use 1-1.5 m2 of solar panel per person. The capacity of the hot water tank should normally be 40-50 litres for every m2 of panel.

Flat panel systems are the most common
The flat panel is most common type of solar panel in Denmark. This usually consists of a copper or aluminium absorption plate which captures the heat from the sun and transfers it to the solar panel fluid which runs through tubes in the plate.

Buy quality
The Trust recommends that you buy a solar heating system with the European Solar Keymark, or the Danish KSO mark.

The KSO mark makes it easy for consumers in Denmark to find a good quality solar heating system.

> Find KSO approved products here (Only in Danish)
 
> Read more about solar heating from the Danish Technological Institute (Only in Danish)

> News and information on solar heating from the Danish Energy Agency (Only in Danish)